New Delhi:
BJP's claim of '400 pairs' is a joke, '300 pairs' is impossible and even '200 pairs' could be a challenge in the Lok Sabha polls, said Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who has declared the ruling party's loss called it a 'done deal'. .
In an interaction with Press Trust of India editors at the agency headquarters, Mr Tharoor also claimed that the BJP will fall short in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and do worse than its 2019 performance in the South.
Shashi Tharoor, who was locked in a three-way contest with Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and CPI's P Raveendran in Thiruvananthapuram, where the elections were held on April 26, said he is eyeing a “very comfortable victory”.
If he emerges victorious, it will be the fourth straight victory for the author-politician from Thiruvananthapuram, the longest-serving MP from the constituency.
Back in Delhi, after a high-voltage campaign of almost two months in Thiruvananthapuram, the Congress Working Committee member will now be canvassing in other parts of the country as he is a sought-after campaigner due to his oratory and celebrity status.
When asked about the state of affairs for the Congress and the INDIA bloc after two phases of polls, the former Union minister said, “190 seats have voted so far and what I gather from my sources is hugely positive for our side. We're not suggesting there's an overwhelming wave, but there certainly isn't for the government.”
“Many who have been following the elections for a while now say that the difference between this election and those of 2014 and 2019 is that the predominant emotion of the BJP voters seems to be indifference and lack of enthusiasm,” Shashi Tharoor claimed during the interaction.
According to him, Congress members feel “cautiously optimistic” about many places in Hindi-speaking states voting so far.
“So I would say on balance we are much further ahead than we expected at this point. Of course, there are still five phases to go in these unnecessarily protracted elections,” Tharoor said.
Asked how many seats the Congress and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) would win in the polls, Tharoor in a lighter tone said that even as a cricket fan he does not predict scores but only predicts victories.
“I would say at this point it seems increasingly likely that the BJP-NDA government will lose its majority. The loss of the BJP's majority seems to be a foregone conclusion,” Tharoor said.
In six states, he pointed out, the BJP won all seats, while in three states it won all but one seat, and in two states it won all but two seats. According to him, this is 'simply not replicable'.
“In Haryana, the Congress has not won any seats and the (opinion) polls indicate five to seven seats this time. In Karnataka we have won one seat and this time the polls range from 10 to 17, some say even 20,” he said.
In all the states where the BJP did so well, even in a conservative analysis, they are losing some seats, he said.
“This 400 pairs is a joke, 300 pairs is impossible and (even) 200 pairs may be a challenge for them (BJP) to get things going.” In Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the BJP will get “zero” seats, he claimed.
In Telangana, they got a handful of seats and would struggle to retain them, Mr Tharoor said, adding that the BJP would not be able to repeat its good show in Karnataka.
In 2019, the BJP won 25 of the 28 seats in Karnataka. In Telangana, it won four of the seventeen seats.
According to Tharoor, there is absolutely no doubt that the BJP will do worse than last time in the South.
'In the North, as I said, they did so well last time and it is impossible to repeat that. In both the North and the South they are coming back from where they were. How well are we doing and how well are the INDIA block parties doing? That remains to be seen because after all, there are still 353 seats to be voted on, so a large majority of elections still need to take place,” he said.
“But all indications are that this is really an uphill battle for the BJP and things are not going the way of the government,” he added.
“I ask objectively, as an Indian citizen, why a young man who voted for the BJP in 2014 because he was promised a job would still vote for the BJP ten years later, while he still has no job” , said Tharoor. .
If all economists say that 80 percent of India's population has seen a decline in income over the past decade, why would these 80 percent want to vote for the BJP that has put them in this predicament, Mr. Tharoor argued.
He said the BJP focused on the economy in 2014, but it was an economically disastrous government, and in 2019 on national security, with Pulwama and Balakot being the dominant issue in North India.
“They (BJP) cannot run the economy this time because they have mishandled the economy and people have no jobs and cannot buy in the market what they could buy a few years ago.
“They cannot focus on national security because everyone knows that China has nibbled away at our border and there are 26 of the 65 patrol points where both armies used to patrol, which the Indian Army now has no access to, and that is under surveillance of Mr (Narendra) Modi, so how is he going to brag about national security,” he said.
“That leaves something… the 'Hindu Hriday Samrat' message, Ram mandir, the kind of inflammatory language we have seen and heard from the Prime Minister and others, fear mongering about one community and attempts to polarize the elections on religion. This tactic has really been overused in the country and those who vote in that direction are already voting for the BJP… it no longer appeals to neutral voters,” Mr Tharoor said.
He questioned the Election Commission for allowing the election process to be extended from March 16, when the schedule was announced, to the counting day on June 4, saying this is “utterly ridiculous”.
“It doesn't make sense. I think someone needs to explain it. It is not that there is an increase in violence in the country. It is very surprising that the Election Commission is organizing itself in this way,” Mr Tharoor said . adding that many states could have had a one-phase election.
“We could have done and dusted off this election much faster, especially at a time when our Prime Minister is talking about 'one nation, one election'. Is there any point in showing that it is taking so long for us to hold elections to one Sabha and that too after having so much experience in holding elections,” the 68-year-old leader said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)